CuteCircuit is an Interaction Design and Product Development Lab. We use Interaction Design as a methodology to develop new products and experiences. The products we develop range from wearable interfaces for personal telecommunication to art installations. On this page you will find answers to some of the most frequent questions we receive about what we do at CuteCircuit, and also a glossary of the terms we use to define our work.

FAQ

Q: What is interaction design?

Interaction design is a new design discipline centered on the development of innovative technologies and systems. Interaction Design is informed by other more widely known disciplines, such as: HCI (Human Computer Interaction), ICT (Information Communication Technology), Anthropology, Industrial design, Web development and design, Architecture, Sociology, with experts of each field able to share knowledge with each other, and working together to define each aspect of a product to create a complete and memorable experience.

Q: How does it work?

Interaction design develops on three vertexes: Technical/technological Feasibility, Economic Sustainability, and Emotional Desirability of the products developed in this framework. Many times we see technological products remain unused: probably users werent involved in the testing of the product to verify the concept, the ease of use and the effective need. Interaction Design allows to invest funds in developing products that are both useful and beautiful.

Q: What technology is important?

Information Technology is part of our everyday life, people’s desire is to manipulate their data. There is a shift from HCI (Human Computer Interaction) to HHI (Human Human Interaction: Interaction between people through technology). This shift makes our society become an experience society where people not only purchase a product but purchase the experience of using the product and the effects produced by its use.

Q: Who else loves interaction design?

Interaction Design is widely recognized at international level, companies such as Apple, Adidas, Nike, Hitachi, Canon, Sony, Ideo apply it to new product development.

Q: Where did we come across Interaction Design?

Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, nearby Turin in Northern Italy has been the center of excellence for the discipline in the past five years (2006), the institute was founded by Olivetti and Telecom Italia. Ryan and Francesca belong to the first founding-class of 25 Masters graduated from Ivrea, and many of CuteCircuit team members are part of this first group of visionaires as well.

Q: What Interaction Design can do for you?

Improve the quality of your life, while you use tools to monitor your healthcare, drive your car, use your personal computer, watch a web site design and enjoy animation and signage graphics that help you browse through a city, your kids play with new educational toys, your company opens an in-house kindergarden for your children, public transportation is free if you leave your car at home, make phone calls to your friends, and you finally fly comfortably in economy… CuteCircuit develops new designs in many of the above-mentioned fields, and has a unique specific know-how developed in the field of wearable computing (engineering and prototyping of hardware and software) and telecommunication services that makes CuteCircuit the best partner to develop future products and scenarios.

Q: Suggested reading if you want to learn more about Interaction Design

In the Bubble, Designing in a Complex World, by John Thackara, edited by MIT Press.

Information Interaction Design: A Unified Field Theory of Design by Nathan Shedroff. An excellent overview of Interaction Design and where it fits in the changing landscape of the deisgn field.